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Friday, August 17, 2012

Hanging Restoration Hardware Vintage Velvet Curtains

All designs have a few layers to them, and our master bedroom was sorely missing the middle layer that breaks up the architecture of the house, moldings, trim, windows, and the small details like artowork.

Oh, and we didn't have any curtains or coverings of any kind on our west facing window wall (all 16 feet of it) for over a year.

Just saying.

One day, while at Restoration Hardware to buy 2 more hooks for our bathroom (read: a very small purchase) my husband's eyes were opened to the possibility of curtains in our bedroom, and my eyes were opened to their 20% off sale:)

We grabbed a few swatches, ran them home, and called in our order that night to take advantage of the last day of the sale.

Then we waited not-so-patiently for the rods, finials, drapes and sheers to arrive.

I avoided this entirely by popping them into our dryer on a steam setting. No idea if this is ok to do, I just have no idea where our iron is.

OK, OK, i you ask my husband , or anyone in my family they will also tell you I don't know how to iron. That is patently false. I know the theory behind it. Heat iron, rub across/over fabric, wrinkles come out. It's just that I haven't actually done it since my dad and I diy'ed an upholstered headboard for me in grad school.

2. One of the sheers was the wrong size. We ordered 108" drapes, just like the label says...

But they sent us a 120" drape. Ugh.

We decided to just hang everything up anyway and add the last drape when it arrived two weeks later.

"We" hung the middle bracket first,

then the side brackets. Thankfully we own a really tall ladder since the ceiings are 10 feet high.

Next we put together two rods to create a totally diy'ed rod that would span the crazy length we needed.

Somewhere around here it must have gotten late and we gave the kids a bath because I have a picture of the two older children wet and naked under a ladder with no drapes hung up yet. I'm not posting that picture here because this is not that type of site. But if you are their grandparents, the picture will absolutely appear in our "real" album, it's that cute:)

We had a double rod so that the double wide (100" each) velvet panels can hang in teh front for maximum light control, and the sheers (only 50" wide) can go behind them and just peek out ot say "hello".

Plus they give it another layer and the light looks really pretty when it's filtered through the sheers.

Living without any coverings for over a year made me pretty happy to have curtains that can close to limit the crazy-intense afternoon sun, although it doesn't give me much hope for sleeping in past 6am, that's what the three kiddos are for:)

Speaking of them, here is where they were for part one of this adventure.

And for part two...

Always a good idea to give them jobs. Like sorting the ring clips from the other ones (hook rings maybe?). For my not-on-the-ladder part I spaced the clips evenly along the sheer.

Then tried 3 times to space the fabric hooks on the velvet drapes before I finally got it right. With the help of my iphone calculator, a tape measure, and finally my husband just doing the math in his head:)

I laid the curtains out over the chaise in between steps (which was overnight) so that they didn't get all wrinkly again.

Finally they started to go up.

Yay! We have drapes. It is as if we are officially grown ups.

The drapes and the third baby, that's what pushed us over the edge.

And lest you think it's all just adorable naked children and fancy-pants velvet curtains around here, this is what the loft looked like after we were done. And it stayed that way for much longer than I'm willing to admit:)

Jessica

Thanks for stopping by!

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These look great! I was just telling Laura that I need some kinda window somethin' (because I totally use the technical terms) in my addition off the kitchen which is sorta like a den/sunroom/entry (technical term that you probably heard in architect school).

Love, love, love this post. First the curtains look great. But the main reason I loved it was for the fact that you can't find the iron. I am having the same problem. I am laughing and crying at the same time.

Those Restoration Hardware velvets are so luxe looking and feeling ... can't helping touching them each time I'm in the store. I bet your gray ones actually look a bit like a super luxe mohair and the contrast with your wall color is so nice. Jessica, you just always seem to have it so together that I'm reassured a bit that you couldn't find (nor do you really want to) your iron ... so if you knew me in real life you wouldn't have to roll your eyes all the time when I pull something like that! Have a great weekend, Robin

Yay, they're really pretty! I'm always shocked how curtains can soften and give height to a room. My house would have looked like that for more than I'd care to admit too. I hate dealing with big bulky boxes! :)Camille

I would kill someone (not really!) for velvet curtains. So gorgeous and I adore the colour you picked against your navy walls. And don't worry about the mess - my house frequently looks like that after a project and it takes me a while to gather the energy to put it all back! xx

Hi Jessica! Wow it looks really wonderful, and what a view you have from your beautiful windows! Love your colour on your walls and the drapes, a really beautiful combo! Nice with help from small cute hands :-) Thanks for wonderful inspiration and thank you so much for leaving a comment on my blog :-)

Whoa, holy windows, and, whoa, fab curtains! Love it! Thank you for sharing. Visiting from My Uncommon Slice. Would love it if you would share this at my Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/2012/08/make-it-pretty-monday-week-11.html Hope to see you at the bash! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

They look wonderful Jessica! We have velvet drapery in our bedroom too and I love them for their room darkening effects and also how they keep the cold draft out in winter! Drapes really add so much to a bedroom! Angie xo

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About

I'm a Harvard-trained architect, now staying at home with 4 young children. I designed and built my dream house, then did it all again with a modern vacation house. I'm putting my passion for design, food and family to work. I built the dream, but I still live in reality.